Fly Me to Safety
by cocobratz
Summary: Max has freed the kids from the institute, leaving them to find a new life in the big city. Lillian and her small flock of five need to find a permanent home, but can they do so with Erasers trying to hunt them down everywhere they go? And what happens when Lillian finds out what really happened to her sister? Join the adventure in Fly Me to Safety.
1. Chapter 1

"But Lillian…what about Lyric?" a small voice asked me as we grew farther and farther from a place I would always see as Hell. Tears brimmed on my eyelashes and I swallowed them down.

"She's dead, Flint. We can't help her," I said quietly. I could hear Willow sniff as she wiped her nose with her sleeve. We were all mourning one of the youngest members of our flock, but none of us said anything. We all knew the truth. She was dead. And there was nothing we could do about it.

I wanted to bawl my eyes out. My sister…my little baby sister was dead. I should have protected her better. I should have kept a closer eye on her. Kept the white coats away from her. I should have saved her.

"There was nothing you could have done," Ash said, coming closer to me. I looked over at him. His normally happy eyes were now sad and slightly filled with tears. I had never seen Ash cry before. And this in itself gave me the strength I needed to force down my own tears. I had to stay strong for my flock. I nodded at him and raised my chin a bit higher.

"Check in, everyone," I said. "Cedar, Apple?"

"Here," the twin six year olds called out.

"Willow, Flint?"

"Here," the nine year old girl sniffed, wiping her nose again.

"Here," Flint repeated. The small eleven year old was already being strong, brimming Willow's wings with his and comforting her in a way I was too upset to do right now. It made me smile.

"Ash?" I turned to the fourteen year old boy next to me. He smiled.

"Here," he said. I had to smile back because I knew, no matter what, that answer would at least always be the same.

"Alright. Come on, guys. We have to find a place to stay tonight," I said. I arced my wings upward and caught a drift of wind that would hopefully lead my flock and I to safety.


	2. Chapter 2

That's one thing I probably should have mentioned about us. You see, my little flock of seven…sorry, six…and I are not your average group of kids. We had been experimented on in a sick, cruel laboratory since before we were even born. And we would still be there, if that girl hadn't come and saved us.

Max. That's what I had heard someone call her. The boy with dark black hair. He was the one that had called out to her and called her Max. I owed everything to her. She and her small flock, who amazingly were just like us, had let us out of our cages. The boy with black hair, Fang I think his name was, had then led us through dark tunnels and into a city.

None of my flock had ever seen a city in their lives. Before being moved to that underground lab, we had been in a different lab called the School in California. That was where my sister had been killed. We hadn't been in the new laboratory for more then a week before Max and her flock came and saved us. If it weren't for her, any other member of my flock could also be dead right now.

We were supposed to go with another girl who was also like us. She had wings as well. But she was taking care of all the other kids from the underground lab. They seemed to know each other well, but didn't seem eager to get to know us. I had my flock to protect, so we left. She didn't seem to mind having less mouths to feed.

"Are we staying here tonight, Lil?" Cedar asked as we landed clumsily in a small clearing in the forest. We had flown quite a ways away from the city and all of us were exhausted.

"Yeah. Settle in, guys. We're camping out here tonight," I told my flock. Apple stumbled a few feet before dropping to her knees and passing out. Cedar laid next to her and began rubbing her back. I smiled. Cedar always took care of his sister.

Willow stumbled over to a tree sat with her back leaned against it. She closed her eyes, breathing hard. None of us were very used to flying, and I knew this trip had taken a toll on the younger ones. Flint stood, looking over our small hide out. He smiled slightly before lying next to Willow and falling asleep.

Ash came over and stood next to me as we watched over the sleeping flock. "You okay?" he asked without looking at me. I glanced up at him. Ash had my back. He always had and always would. I knew that.

But still. I couldn't bear the thought of looking weak in front of any member of my flock. Even Ash. I had to be strong. I had to be a leader, a role model. If I couldn't keep it together, how could I expect them to?

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just…tired," I told him, going to sit down.

"Lillian…you just lost your sister. You don't have to play tough in front of me," he said, looking down at me from where he stood. I looked up at him again, not wanting to get into this discussion. This wasn't the time or place. So I forced a smile.

"Better then them having her alive," I said, my voice cracking unforgivably half way through my sentence. Ash sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulder.

"It's going to be alright, Lil. Just try and get some sleep." So, for once, I allowed myself to be the small, thirteen year old girl I was. I curled up against his shoulder and fell asleep instantly.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning I woke before anyone else. Ash was asleep next to me, his arm limply draped over my shoulder. I carefully slide out from under him and look over my flock. Everyone was there. Everyone was safe.

Except Lyric.

I shook my head, needing to keep my thoughts off of that subject. If I thought about it I knew I would start bawling my eyes out. We had to do something. We needed a plan. I ran a hand through my messy hair and sighed.

First things first, we needed to get new clothes. The hospital gowns were not going to do if we went into public.

Then a thought occurred to me. Could we go into public? Surely the white coats would be looking for us. But if it was just the nerdy scientists, we may be able to handle them. All of us were stronger then the average human, after all. But if they sent out Erasers…they wouldn't do that, would they? No. They couldn't. Surely someone would notice a huge, wolf like creature lurking the streets.

But…Erasers were capable of morphing into regular looking humans, weren't they? I couldn't be sure. The only time I ever saw Erasers were when they were fully morphed and ready to kill me or my flock. But I had heard other kids talk about them. I was pretty sure that, when they wanted to, the Erasers could morph back into normal looking beings. And if that was the case, we were in serious trouble.

Aside from that, I didn't know anything about surviving on my own. But that hardly mattered right now. We weren't in cages, and that was the most important thing. The rest we could figure out on the way. Food, clothing, shelter. All of that could be taken care of as long as we stayed away from the white coats.

Not wanting to wake the others, I searched the forest floor until I came up with a sharp rock. Using the edge, I cut a slice in the center of my gown, turning it into two pieces. I tied the bottom piece tighter around my waist and tried hard to stretch out the top. My result was an outfit that vaguely resembled a skirt and long shirt. But as long as it covered my wings, I couldn't be too picky. It was the best I could do with what I had. Then I left a short note for my flock in the dirt, letting them know I was alright, and took off into the morning air.

I could slightly remember passing a town a few minutes before landing in our clearing. If I could just get there I could get some clothes and food and maybe some other supplies we could use.

At least, that was my plan.

When I finally found and landed on the outskirts of the town I made my way to the nearest store and realized I had overlooked one important detail. I needed money to get supplies. And I didn't have money. Still, I was already in the store. And I knew this may have been my only chance to get stuff for us to survive, so I managed to slip a pocket knife into my skirt hem and a small first aid kit up my shirt before I left the store. No one knew the difference, and I was sure the small things wouldn't be missed. After that, I walked the streets wondering how the hell I was going to get new clothes for my flock. They couldn't stay in those awful white gowns. Not only did they offer no protection against the weather, but they contained memories that we wouldn't be able to get over if we didn't get new clothes.

As I was walking, contemplating where else I could hide merchandise to steal from stores, something caught my eye. A woman was standing at a large yellow box and throwing plastic bags right into it.

Bags of _clothes_.

Perfectly good clothes and she was just throwing them away! What a waste. But not for me. No way. If she didn't want them, I'd take them. Being careful not to be seen, I hid out in a bush until the lady had gone. Then I headed right over to the yellow box to examine it.

Was she incinerating the clothes? Had they been contaminated? I had seen the scientists do that on more than one occasion at the school. But the yellow box wasn't hot. So there couldn't have been fire inside. So what then?

Looking in the opening on the side, my mouth dropped open. There were bags upon bags and perfectly fine clothes _just lying there_! Why? What were these people thinking? Not that it mattered much. This was just what I needed. Hoisting myself up, I rolled into the yellow box and started going through the bags.

Within seconds I had a perfectly durable backpack filled to the brim with jeans and tops and sweaters that would fit my flock. I made sure to get things that would be easy to run in and not tear every time we flew into a tree. One of the jeans even had a twenty dollar bill in the pocket! Man, normal people were crazy throwing these things away.

Once I was satisfied with my findings, even changing into my own outfit of jean shorts, a zip up hoodie over a tight black tank top that kept my wings pressed firmly against my back, and a fantastic pair of sneakers, I climbed out of the box and resumed walking down the street, trying to look as normal as possible. I made a quick decision to use the twenty dollars I'd found to buy some food for the kids before I went back. It was strange, being able to choose what I ate. Before, it had just been the scientists forcing food down our throats, and never enough might I add. Now it was like I had the world at my fingertips. I was making the decisions. I was in charge. It was insane.

But at the same time, I was beyond paranoid. Everywhere I turned I thought I saw Erasers coming after me. Every time someone made eye contact I could have sworn they were a scientist or taking my description down for the FBI. Just paying for the burgers at some fast food place had sent my heart racing. Actual interactions with a normal human that didn't want to do experiments on me. It was totally new.


	4. Chapter 4

When I got back to the clearing where I'd left my flock, they were all awake. Ash had gotten a fire going and the younger ones were sitting around it. Ash had always been good with fire. I could remember times when he'd somehow manage to set one off in his dog crate. He'd end up with minor burns, but the way the scientists would freak out was totally worth it. They'd run around screaming and wondering how he'd managed to create a flame out of nothing. It was how he'd gotten his nickname, Ash. Between him and Flint, who Ash was slowly teaching to create as much havoc as he did, we'd never have to go without fire.

"Where have you been, Lillian?" Cedar asked as I dropped to the ground, trying hard to keep my balance. When I knew I wouldn't fall over, I stood straight and smiled. I dropped down the paper bags from the fast food restaurant and my bag filled with clothes.

"Whoa!" Ash exclaimed, unzipping the bag and pulling shirts and pants from it.

"This rocks!" Flint smiled, tearing into a bag of food.

"You went into town?" Willow asked, staring at me with wide eyes. The thought was unbelievable to all of us.

"Well, we needed food and new clothes, didn't we?" I asked.

"But…you're wings," she persisted.

"Covered," I said, turning so that they could see my perfectly-normal-looking back.

"You look nice, Lillian," Apple said quietly from where she sat against her tree. I went over and scooped her up, giving her a light kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, kid," I said. "Now, how about some food?"

We all gathered around the food and I began passing out burgers and fries. Who knew you could get an entire burger for only one dollar? I'd gotten about fifteen. Before long, we'd all eaten about two. Ash and Cedar were going in for their third while Flint and Apple went at the fries.

"So where did you get these?" Willow asked, searching through the pack I'd brought back. I took it from her and began searching for the clothing I knew would fit her small frame.

"People were just leaving them around. Like, throwing them out. I don't know why, but who cares, right? Now we can get rid of these things," I threw my hospital gown that I'd stuffed into the bag over Willow's head and into the fire. It started burning immediately, leaving a very satisfied feeling in it's wake. Willow smiled slightly, a rare thing for her, and waited as I pulled her clothes from the bag.

"Oh, Lillian, I love it," she smiled when I handed her the flowing black shirt and dark jeans.

"Is this mine?" Cedar asked, pulling the small pair of green overalls from the bag.

"Yep," I told him. "And these." I handed him the short sleeve, grey and white hooded t-shirt and light green sweater that went with the outfit. Smiling giddily, he ran off to change. I helped Apple into her own light pink top with white, puffed sleeves and light blue jeans before throwing Flint his dark red t-shit and jean pants. "Yours are in the bag," I told Ash as I turned Apple around to braid her long, dirty blonde hair.

Walking over, Ash reached in and pulled out a pair of jeans and a dark blue t-shirt with a red and white zip-up to go over it.

"Wow, Lil. I never knew you had such a fashion sense," he teased. I scowled at him, which only made him laugh.

"Well, we want to look normal, don't we?" I asked. Ash's smile fell slightly as he considered this.

"Do we?" he asked. "I mean…are we really going to go into town?" I glanced down at Apple, not sure I wanted to have this conversation in her presence.

"Here, sweetie," I said handing her the bag. "I got everyone new shoes, too. Why don't you bring them over to where the others are?" Apple nodded slightly before taking the bag and heading out to where the others were, examining their new clothing. Once she was far enough away, I turned to Ash. "What else could we do?" I asked. "We need food. And we need to make sure we're hidden from the scientists. If we get caught…" I looked up at him, not having to say what would happen. It would be hell. Ash considered this.

"But where would we go?" he asked. "I mean, it's not like we can buy a house and have a normal life or whatever. We're just kids." I sighed and looked down at my hands. He was right. We were just kids.

"Well you're oldest. What do you want to do?" I asked. Ash gave me a slight smile and I couldn't help smile back. We both knew I'd be the one making the decisions. Even if Ash was a year older, I was always the one in charge. It was just the way things were.

"Well, maybe we can just—"

"Well, well, well." My head snapped up at the sound of a growling voice behind me. No way. There was no way.


	5. Chapter 5

I stood slowly and turned, seeing Ash tense beside me as we both realized what was coming. Sure enough, three Erasers were coming up through the forest, halfway morphed into wolves and looking ready to kill. "We've been looking for you," the Eraser in the middle said. "We weren't ready to let you go yet. Looks like you'll have to come with us, willing or not."

This was bad. This was so bad. How had they found us? And how had they snuck up without anyone noticing? I suppose we just weren't used to having to listen for danger. Before, danger was just a common thing. I glanced slightly at Ash, knowing a fight was coming. Would we be able to take on three Erasers? We'd never really had a chance to fight them before. Sure, we'd defended ourselves a couple of times, but they always had the upper hand. We were either caged or hooked up to shock machines or somehow disadvantaged. Now it was an even match. And I still wasn't sure we could do it.

"We're not going with you," Ash said, his voice low. I glanced at him again and could see he was crouched in an offensive position. This was new for him. I'd never seen Ash preparing for a fight like this. I slightly wondered if he even knew what he was doing.

"Where are the others?" the second Eraser asked. I kept my mouth shut. I could only pray that the littles ones saw what was going on and got the hell out of here. I had to keep them safe. I wasn't going to let another one of them get hurt. "Come on, now," the Eraser continued. "We can't be taking back just two of you. The School wants all six of you back." The School? They wanted to take us back to _The School?_ They had just moved us into the Institute and now they wanted to bring us back. Why?

"You're an idiot," I growled at him. "If you think we're going to go _willingly_ with you, than you're just plain stupid." The Eraser smiled slightly, as if this was the reaction he had wanted. Than again, it probably was. After all, fighting and killing was just about the only thing Erasers were good at. He probably wanted to fight me.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the middle Eraser launched himself forward. I ducked just in time for him to fly over my head, then spun on my heel, getting ready to defend. To my left, Ash lunged at the second Eraser, taking him off of his feet. It was crazy, being able to actually fight the Erasers without being tested or examined at the same time. This was just us. No side liners, no scientists standing close by to restrain us if they needed. Just us.

I wheeled back as the Eraser caught me in the nose with his fist. I could feel the blood come instantly. Reaching back, I swung at his side, earning a howl of pain in response. The Eraser swung at me again and I ducked, waiting for his momentum to swing him around before landing a solid kick in the middle of his back. There was a sickening crack that I wasn't sure came from his rib or spine. I wasn't quite sure I wanted to know.

Just as I was about to pause and congratulate myself, the third Eraser reached out and yanked my hair back. My head slammed against the ground and my vision started tunneling slightly. Not good. Using my hands to push off, I rolled backwards and kicked at him with my feet, landing them both solidly in his stomach. It wasn't enough, though. The Eraser stumbled a few steps back before coming at me again. Glancing at Ash, I could see he was holding his own against the other Eraser, but the first one was recovering and preparing to join the fight again. How could we take on three Erasers?

Just as I was preparing to turn on the first Eraser, a small figure caught my eye. Looking up I could see Flint dive bombing the first one, feet stuck straight out. I wanted to scream at him, but I didn't have time. Flint's feet connected with the side of Eraser one's head and he went down like a ton of bricks. Pep talk could wait until later. Turning quick I landed a hard blow in Eraser two's side before running to Ash and grabbing his arm. Eraser three was on the ground at his feet, his muzzle nose spurting blood.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" I screamed, practically dragging him into the air with me. "Flint! Willow! Cedar! Apple!" I screamed, then waited as each of my little guys took a running start into the air. Then, we started flying.


	6. Chapter 6

"Where did those guys come from, Lillian?" Cedar asked me in a small voice. I looked over to see both he and Apple's skin were pale, their eyes wide.

"I'm not sure, kid," I said, rubbing the end of my wing against his. "But we're safe for now. Let's…let's just get somewhere safe, okay? Then we can figure things out."

"But Lillian…how did they find us?" Willow asked. She also looked shaken. Part of me felt almost guilty. I should have prepared them for this. Taught them something about fighting, not that I knew much myself. Instead they were afraid and unsure what to do. Of course, I couldn't blame them for that. Erasers had always been a hint for experiments and torture for us back at the school. If we saw an Eraser, we knew to expect the worst.

"I don't know, Willow," I admitted. "But it's okay. We're going to be okay." She gave a slight nod, trying hard to be tough. That was my flock. They were troopers.

I led the five of them through the sky, not quite sure where we were going. I knew we wouldn't be able to go long, the kids weren't used to long and exhausting flights. But another part of me never wanted to stop. We could never be far enough away from those Erasers. There had to be somewhere to go. But where? Obviously the city was out of the question. If the Erasers could find us out in the forest, hiding, how could we even think we'd stay hidden out in the open?

"What do you think?" I asked Ash. He considered, then shrugged slightly. "Big help," I told him and he smiled.

"That's why you're in charge," he said. I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help smile. Scanning the ground, I finally decided on a dense piece of forestry.

"Come on, guys," I said. "We're going down." The kids followed me as we descended into the trees, hitting a few of them, before landing clumsily on the forest floor. We really had to work on that.

"Now what, Lil?" Flint asked, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. I hesitated for a moment, not quite sure. But I had to be sure. I was the leader. So, thinking on my toes, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"We're going to find a city and try to hide out there," I told them. So much for my previous plans of keeping away. But didn't make sense? To some amounts, anyway. I mean, there were tons of people in the city. We would totally blend in. And if we saw any Erasers we'd just fall into a crowd and lose them. Plus, there was no way an Eraser could morph in front of everyone. It totally made sense. Right?

If it did, then why was my flock looking at me like I'd grown an extra ear?

"A…a city?" Cedar asked.

"Are you sure, Lil?" Willow asked. I shifted to my other foot and folded my arms. Why were they doubting me? Now I was unsure.

"Of course I'm sure." I explained to them my thought process and, to my relief, they started to seem more on board with the idea. Good. That made my job easier.

"Sounds good," Ash smiled, walking over and put his hand on my shoulder. "You guys in?" he asked the others. They nodded, giving their small smiles.

"Of course we're in," Cedar smiled.

"Not like we'd let you go all alone." Flint grinned, giving Ash a slight punch in the arm. Ash smiled and grabbed him, putting him in a headlock. Flint laughed, trying to get out. Soon all of them were piling on top of Ash, going to help Flint. I stood by, leaning on a tree and watching them laugh and play. Finally I went over and scooped Apple up out of the mess of kids.

"Alright, guys. Let's take off," I said. The kids gave me big smiles before running off and jumping into the air. Lifting Apple up, I let her jump off of my hand and snap her wings open above my head. She laughed slightly, looking down at me, and I smiled. Then I took my own running start before jumping into the air and leading my flock East.

Don't ask me how I knew we were going East. To be honest, I had no idea. Yet I always seemed to know which direction we were going. Some weird thing the scientists programmed into us, I suppose. Either way, it didn't help much when I wasn't sure whether or not a city would be in this direction. But I decided to try my luck. And sure enough, a city started coming into view a few minutes later.


End file.
